An Information Company in Mexico: Extending the Resource-Based View of the Firm to a Developing Country Context

The information industry assumes that information is seen as a valued resource that enables organizations and individuals to improve their effectiveness, efficiency, and overall competitiveness. For the information industry to bridge rather than divide further the global economy to information rich and information poor, we need to understand how firms, particularly local firms, can pioneer or participate in the information industry in emerging economies that do not inherently embrace information as a valued business resource. This research examines how one local firm shaped the external environment to pioneer a local information industry in Mexico and how it competes in a newly opened local market against foreign competitors. In doing so, the paper extends the resource-based view of the firm to a developing country context. The dynamic capabilities of strategic foresight and flexibility, coupled with a core competency of trustworthiness, are found to be critical in effecting internal and external change in an unstable environment.